Daily Bread

Finding what nurtures your soul.

My wife Joy and I spent our first year of marriage in Germany. At the Ruhr University, she took language classes, and I wrote my dissertation sitting in the library. We rode used bikes back and forth between campus and the second-floor rooms we rented in a kindly older couple’s home. On most days, we pedaled to a nearby bakery to buy a fresh loaf of bread.

That bread was hearty stuff. It showed me how bread could be the main component of people’s diet in Jesus’ day. In fact, it continued to serve as a dietary staple in parts of Europe for centuries after. For instance, on a recent podcast I learned that, in 18^th Century France, most families lived on two loaves a day. No wonder a severe bread shortage played such a large role in the French Revolution. People were starving for want of bread.

Photo by Kate Remmer on Unsplash

So, when Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life,” he’s making a startling claim. We will perish without him. We need him for our very existence. I should explain.

It’s pre…